


Aay'han/Bittersweet

by 0deromance



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s07e12 Victory and Death, F/M, First Kiss, Mando'a, POV, Post-Episode: s05e20 The Wrong Jedi, Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 7 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:40:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24625636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0deromance/pseuds/0deromance
Summary: From surviving to confessing love to each other, from accompanying to leaving each other.Translated from Chinese. Sorry for my bad English, please be gentle : )
Relationships: CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano
Comments: 3
Kudos: 32





	1. [TOME] TOGETHER

First impression: This seems to be an uninhabited moon.

  
The star destroyer was captured by gravity and plunged into the atmosphere, with its propulsion engines and lateral control completely out of action. This warship is one of the masterpieces of Kuat Drive Yards, a backbone of The Grand Army of the Republic, the trusted home of the clones and Jedi. At the moment, however, acceleration is not an enemy that can be killed by a gunshot or negotiated with a lightsaber, this Venator-Class has not been able to avoid its doomed crash.

  
Just a few seconds after Rex had lifted the Y-wing above the cloud at a safe distance, the massive ship collided with the ground, sending a tremendous roar through the air. The bomber fuselage, thousands of metres apart, wobbled slightly under the onslaught of energy. The captain had the illusion of pulled away. It was as if someone else, not himself, was witnessing the tragedy: another CT-7567 was floating outside the bomber, looking down from midair.

  
From the hovering Y-wing, smoke billowed from the fallen hull and its debris parts left a long black tail fanned out over most of Rex's view. His head was against the hatch cover, mechanically searching for a line that was different from the falling track. A lucky boy may found a useable fighter, or happened to carry a jetpack and missed all those sharp debris, or...

  
Nothing.

  
Something occurred to him, and he scrambled to adjust his communications, searching various frequencies, hoping to hear an SOS call, even if - even if someone called that there was a Jedi on the loose.

  
No miracle happened. No.  
  
I ordered to destroy all escape pods.

  
I killed my brothers.  
  
Why am I still alive?

  
  
Rex looked back, again, at the gunner's seat behind him.

* * *

  
  
The smoke slowly dissipated, and at the end of the long sliding track, the wreckage of the star destroyer loomed. After the battleship fell to the ground, there was no orange glow peculiar to the explosion under the white clouds. Now it seems that the structure of the ship is basically complete. Maybe some rockets still play a role, maybe a ground effect occurred just before the fall, maybe aerodynamic factors that were never considered in the design of the hull produced some lift, or maybe it is an unknown, mysterious reason, in short, this totally power-lost star destroyer apparently touched the ground at an angle almost parallel to the ground. Thinking of this, Rex rekindled a glimmer of hope.

"Rex." Ahsoka's voice came from the communicator, breaking this dead silence. Still having the gentleness that the electronic device had processed, however without distortion, and mixed with a certain emotion that she deliberately played down.

  
He pushed the operating lever to start landing. She doesn't need to speak again to let him know what he should do now, or, he doesn't want her to talk more at this time. Sooner or later, they will face it together, but not now.  


As the height decreased, the remains gradually enlarged in front of the eyes. The hull was half buried in the ground, and the stern turned into scrapped iron claws, exposing the internal structure below. The starboard bridge was seriously damaged, and the port side was even worse. Two huge hangar gates were twisted and deformed, and the deep fissures between the red durasteel seemed to be bleeding wounds.

Rex hovered a half circle to turn the fuselage. Squeezed his nose bridge and closed his eyes to think: the battleship had very little fuel and ammunition left, and the explosion in space had already consumed a part, so the Venator was not completely destroyed. So maybe, maybe...

The landing gear landed firmly, and the wound on Rex's head suddenly hurt. He opened his eyes.

There is no maybe. He will witness it with his own eyes.

Ahsoka and Rex jumped off the hard-earned Y-wing bomber, and the ground where their feet contacted again was the new earth that the star destroyer slammed into the ground, and stirring up a layer of fine dust .

"Let's start from the top layer." Rex was secretly surprised that his tone did not fluctuate. At least he couldn't hear it himself.

As soon as he had said this, the Togruta girl who had been behind him, almost trotted up to him and studied the captain's expression. He flashed a familiar sense in his mind, and then recognised that it was exactly the same look as when he was taken off the helmet and cried: a look-up, concerned and sympathetic, as if she were looking straight into his heart. After she used the Force to find and remove Rex's chip, there is still a connection between them. Yes, he was certain that this new feeling was not the same as their mutual understanding.

But this time, his mood was different, no tears blurred vision, no averted gaze, he gradually, like drowning in a blue lake but not willing to save himself. So close, so beautiful, he instinctively looked for his reflection in her blue eyes...

Until, out of the corner of his eye, he saw small but alarming wounds on her face. His eyes moved to the other orange skin, the shoulders and arms, worse than her face: cuts casued by ship debris, the injury of blasters. Rex's right hand clenched more tightly on his helmet every time he saw each of her wounds, until he realized that his face could not hide the pain and he put the helmet on.

"All right, little'un, I'm not tired." After years of training and fighting under gunfire, Rex was ready to tap that switch named military literacy and field knowledge, and to screen out some of the distractions." From the relative position of the falling point as seen from space, I have the impression that here is close to the northern twilight line, so the current time point is morning on this planet. Better to be finished before dark. With all this noise, it's hard to say how much time there is left to sort it out..." Facing the growing sadness in her eyes, Rex could hardly continue. In this situation, self-deception and deception is a kind of self-harm. He have always felt shameful to give up, but at this moment, escape is particularly useful.

"Okay." Then she spoke. Captain felt that he was saved. "Open your helmet's thermal imaging module if it still works. Find some tools, let's go together." Ahsoka raised her hand, pressed it on the right side of his breastplate, stroked it and turned toward the ship wreckage. It did not seem to have been mentioned. She probably did not know that he left a blue handprint on Fives' armor at Rishi Outpost, almost the same position. 

Together. Rex began to play with the word over and over in his mind, meanwhile he methodically set the life-detection parameters in the eyepiece.

Tome. Mhi solus tome，mhi solus dar'tome. 

She remembers that promise? In a few seconds thinking, Rex shook his head, shaking off his untimely memories of joy, and catch up with her steps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aay'han - bittersweet perfect moment of mourning and joy - *remembering and celebrating*
> 
> Mhi solus tome，mhi solus dar'tome. - part of the Mandalorian marriage vow.


	2. [CYAR’IKA] BELOVED

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The promised farewell gift, now has become a permanent scar. In tears, she finally confessed her feelings to her captain.

A lone figure stood in front of the ruins of the Star Destroyer. At her feet are the abandoned lightsabers of a former Jedi apprentice, determined to let go. Between her and the wreck was a phalanx of clone helmets, this phalanx was no longer alive. 

Ahsoka and Rex, they spent their limited time on searching and burying the bodies of the clones as many as they could find. They made a small cemetery with a few dozen helmets on various pipes. Ahsoka didn't use the scattered rifles, she subconsciously didn't want the clones to be contaminated with the war, not anymore.

Ahsoka looked at the orange-painted ones and recalled the first time she saw them. And now...

So, this is the end of the Clone Wars, which she had been waiting for.

When did she begin to look forward to the end of the war?

Surrounded by soldiers and artillery fire she grew up, of course, in leisure time between battles she also thought about: if there is no war, what kind of Jedi she will become? Perhaps because she did not know much about the outside world, pieces of thoughts did not lead to a tendentious conclusion. Like her great teacher, Ahsoka was more accustomed to attributing the present to "the will of the Force."

Including the day Ahsoka Tano quit the Jedi Order. Or, especially that day, confused but also crystal clear.

* * *

In the golden sunset, she descended the steps of the Jedi Temple for the last time, quietly and slowly. Rex, standing at the end of the steps, seemed to sense her presence. He turned and raised his head to meet her, whom he had not seen for a long time. He made an elegant military salute, and there was a glad and gentle smile on his face, fortitude blending with warmth.

The smile faded quickly. He is always a careful and quick-thinking man. The two lightsabers hanging from her waist were gone, along with her prized Padwan headdress.The captain lowered his head, collected his mood in seconds, and looked up again, radiating a deeper warmth, pride and approval.

She was moved, and she always knew that no one, no one in the galaxy would trust her, understand her, support her more than her captain. Ahsoka stepped down, the face that has been replicated thousands of times, but unique to her and recognizable in the Force.

No matter how many regrets she had before, now he deserves a nice goodbye. However, Ahsoka didn't know what to say.

"As another point of view, reducing a child soldier from the battlefield is always a good thing." Rex grinned. "But, commander, you should let me know in advance, then I can prepare some farewell gifts for you."

"I wasn't..." She hung her head lower than ever, "I'm sorry, Rex, really..."

"SHH..." The Clone Captain gently interrupted her apology, becoming more considerate. "I'm certainly not blaming you, Ahsoka. I watched you grow from that witty little girl into this great warrior." Rex put his hand on her left shoulder to attract Ahsoka's attention, and she looked up with some confusion. “But if anyone I know deserves to have a life outside of a war, it's you. Please believe in yourself, you have made the right decision."

"I'll miss you." She lunged at Rex and gave him a solid hug, the scent of the soldier reassuring Ahsoka. The adolescent Togruta girl had grown so fast that she was almost as tall as the gallant captain. Her face rested on Rex's blue shoulder armor. "You are always so considerate, my good captain. But what about you?" Ahsoka tightened her arms and held him tighter. "We, what shall we do?" This sentence almost inaudible.

"Okay, I need to get used to it for a while." Rex put his arms around her too, whispered as if to himself, "I'll be more careful to avoid tinny‘s blaster, need to brush up on my driving skills. Oh, and I'll be the only one to help General Skywalker and his adventurous plans." He was obviously making fun, and it worked: she relaxed and became less tense.

Rex rubbed his cheek imperceptibly and tentatively against her soft Lekku, that instantly deepened her orange complexion. As if realizing it wasn't appropriate to do, Rex pulled her from his arms, clearing his throat a little and adopting his usual solemn tone. "I'll protect myself, Cyare, until the day I see you again. That's my promise. This is especially true when you are alone. Please. Please take care."

She got it, though not quite understood the Mandalorian meaning of cyare. Rex's smiling face came closer and closer. Ahsoka could even feel his breath on her forehead...

But what she was expecting didn't happen, and she detected the reason in the Force: someone she had said goodbye was standing at the edge of the temple platform, watching her and her captain. The two men she knew best were looking at each other from a distance.

Rex withdrew his gaze and fell back on her face. "I'll be waiting for you, I promise." And with a bright smile, "Now the entire galaxy is open to you. Please take a look instead of me. Here I am, waiting to hear your story."

She nodded earnestly. "May the Force be with you."

"May the Force be with you and me."

* * *

When she heard the sound of his backpack being slammed to the ground and Rex's footsteps running toward her, Ahsoka realized she was in tears. The hood of her gray cloak had been removed, and she felt herself fell into familiar arms.

The first hug after their reunion.

At Last. I waited for a long time.

"I'm here." There was a slight gasp in his voice after he had run. Optimism and toughness are both her most celebrated qualities, but even so, Rex had seen her depression on several occasions. But she, trembling with sobs, was hard to imagine until he saw this. The captain, hesitating, spoke again with a lump in his throat.

"It's all right. Believe me, crying makes you feel better." Rex patted her on the back and, to comfort her and to comfort himself, repeated over and over again:

Ner Jetii. Ner ka'ra'nau. Ner Cyar'ika.

My Jedi. My starlight. My love.

Ahsoka's fingers felt strange and comfortable through his short blond hair. Then she moved her hands to the side of his neck, his cheek, pulled him closer, and pressed a kiss near his earlobe, whispering her confession through her tears: "Ni Kar 'tayl Gar Darasuum." I love you.

He heard clearly. Rex stopped everything, including his own breathing. The next second ahsoka felt she was pushed away, his shock faintly visible through her tears. It was not the expected yes. She closed her eyes and shed more tears.

But the tears were soon stopped.

She felt his warm hand resting on her jaws, and the moment she opened her eyes for confirmation, his forehead met hers, and all she saw was the deeper gold in his pupils. On the right, the tears are carefully wiped away by his thumb and palm. On the other side, his kiss landed at the wet corners of her eye, then moved downward, their lips met.

No experience is like this. Since the lips entangled, it seemed as if he and she were the only two beings left in the vast universe. The Jedi prohibition on attachment, the military discipline of soldiers, nothing can stop them from turning their regrets and longing into the reality of the moment. Even if the salty taste remind them, the two just quietly agree to find a better angle to deepen the kiss.

As Ahsoka wrapped her arms around his body, as Rex tightened his hands behind her head and waist, it was almost as if they were back on a battlefield, side by side again, competing with each other and matching each other with precision synchronization. Years and countless times of imagination...

The wheeze between their lips, his hoarseness, her moan,circulatingly deepened, more and more intense, was about to develop into uncontrolled exultation... Gradually they slowed down until they parted and forehead to forehead, looking into each other's eyes with heavy breathing.

Perfect experience, but the timing and location could have been better.

"I'm yours. I chose you." Rex's response was brief and direct. She nodded her head lightly and pressed against his breastplate. It was, as it had always been, the most reassuring place for her.

"Say goodbye to them for the last time. Take me away."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cyare - beloved, loved, popular
> 
> I have always believed that Anakin felt something between his apprentice and his second-in-command. That's why before leaving, he must bring Rex and Ahsoka together, in order to make her happy, and for Rex to persuade Ahsoka to stay.
> 
> My first fanfiction so I would be absolutely honored to receive comments : )


End file.
